Vairagyam
Repeated Practice of DispassionBhagavan Sri Krishna prescribes abhyasa and vairagya to gain mastery over the mind in Bhagavad Gita Verse 6-35. The word abhyasa means repeated practice. Repeated practice is necessary to gain mastery on anything, especially in the case of vairagya. Vairagya is a very important virtue for vedanta and yoga. Patanjali Yoga Sutra 1-15 defines vairagya.
श्रीभगवानुवाच।
असंशयं महाबाहो मनो दुर्निग्रहं चलम्।
अभ्यासेन तु कौन्तेय वैराग्येण च गृह्यते॥
śrībhagavānuvāca |
asaṁśayaṁ mahābāho mano durnigrahaṁ calam |
abhyāsena tu kaunteya vairāgyeṇa ca gṛhyate ||
sribhagavan - Lord Krsna; uvaca - said;
mahabaho - O Mighty-armed! (Arjuna); asamsayam - no doubt; manah - mind; durnigraham - very difficult to control; calam - agitated; tu - but; kounteya - O Son of Kunti! (Arjuna); abhyasena - by practice; ca - and; vairagyena - by objectivity; grhyate - is mastered
Sri Bhagavan said:
No doubt, O Mighty-armed (Arjuna), the agitated mind is very difficult to control. But, O Son of Kunti, by practice and objectivity, it is mastered.
Sankara defined vairagya here as the capacity to repeatedly see the limitations in both the seen and unseen objects of enjoyment, meaning in this world and in the heaven - vairagyam nama drsta-adrsta-bhogesu dosa-darsana-abhyasat vaitrsnyam.
Limitations here refer to what a given object can and cannot give. Any object has some virtues, gunas, and some defects, dosas, or limitations. Therefore, one must see these limitations clearly. For example, money can buy, but it cannot make you enjoy.
Viveka Phalam is Vairagyam
Vairagya is the end result of Nitya Anitya Vastu Vivekam. Clinging to the world for security and support is passion. Psychological dependancy towards the world for security and support is called passion.
Using the world for entertainment, learning and serving the world is not passion. You need not run away from the world. You need not reject the world. Psychologically when I need security and support I change the (TV) channel to God. When I need entertainment and education then I change the (TV) channel to world. Dispassion is borne out of viveka – discrimination.
Viveka phalam is vairagyam. Discrimination between permanent and impermanent objects of pursuit is vivekaha.
புடிச்சா புளியங் கொம்பைப் பிடி If you are falling down, catch hold of Tamarind branch, which is strong though thin. Mango branch appears solid, but will break.
Sobhanadyasa
Sobhanadyasa is superimposing pleasing attributes upon various objects in the world, and then think these will bring you happiness and security. Then here is a certain enchantment and infatuation towards the object.
The attraction to sense-objects is a type of superimposition (adhyāsa) known as śobhanādhyāsa - śrutisārasamuddharaṇam by Toṭakācārya
A sense-object is not intrinsically attractive because everybody does not find the same object equally attractive. What is most attractive to one person may not be attractive to somebody else. This shows that a person superimposes own subjective ideas of what is attractive or unattractive upon things of the world.
Please see the example of shell-silver in the link below.
http://knswamy.blogspot.com.au/2014/09/avidya-01.html
Objectivity is the meaning of Vairagya:
Vairagya is the absence of sobhanadhyasa. Vairagya means to be free of the longing that implies superimposition, sobhanadhyasa. And this is accomplished by neutralising the sobhanadhyasa, thereby judging situations properly.
Any object of liking can become an object of obsession. To neutralise a sobhanadhyasa, one has to understand the difference between the objective value and the subjective imposition of values upon the object. And how is it possible to see this difference?
Seeing things as they are:
The capacity to look at things as they are is called objectivity. Doing this again and again is abhyasa and seeing the limitations of the objects is vairagya. Repetition is essential because the subjective value does not go away just like that.
Vairagya is nothing but the emotional growth of the person. Growth is strictly in terms of understanding the limitations of an object or situation, again and again, until the superimposition falls apart. Then the world does not have a hold over you. Otherwise, the mind runs towards certain objects naturally because they have been given such importance by the society.
By abhyasa and vairagya, then, the mind can be mastered, manah grhyate.
We are balloon sannyasis:
As we grow old from childhood, with reference to balloons we all have vairagya. We do not become ecstatic by getting balloons or despair if the balloon bursts. A grahasta - a person who has not taken up sannyasa needs to develop the same balloon attitude towards everything. This is internal renunciation.
While vairāgyaṁ and saṁnyāsa are synonymous, it is entirely possible for
a grahasta - house holder to develop sufficient vairāgyaṁ without having to take up saṁnyāsa.
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Why Vairagya does not last long?
We get occasional glimpses of vairagya during moments of disappointment, disenchantment and distress. This mental status goes back to the original condition quickly. A person becomes a vairāgī only as a result of vivekam. Only a viveki - a wise person becomes an established vairāgī. Vivekam is the ability to differentiate between what is long lasting and what is ephemeral. Vairagyam needs to be practiced repeatedly with an intelligent evaluation of the world.
1. Abhava Vairagya. Vairagya is not born of disenchantment. Someone who has failed in his pursuits in life and having lost everything decides to be a sadhu does not have vairagya. Because we cannot get a thing, we have a dispassion for it. நரி எட்டி, எட்டி பறிக்க முயன்று முடியாதலால் சீ, சீ இந்த திராட்சை பழம் புளித்ததென்று சொன்ன கதை.
2. Vairagya is not an aversion to sense objects either, but it is an intelligent evaluation. You need not and should not develop hatred towards anything in the name of vairagya.
3. Smasana-vairagya. When somebody dies and the bereaved goes to the cremation ground, smasana, he develops a vairagya towards his pursuits in life. It was just a temporary vairagya which dissipates quickly. Vairagya is not the state of mind that often arises when someone dies. Glimpsing the transitoriness of life, the distaste for meaningless pursuits that follows is most often not real vairagya. That will usually dissipate as time goes on and regular affairs resume.
4. Prasava vairagya. Life is very hard for an expectent mother due to the agony of the travail, and she makes up her mind that such a sorry state of affairs may not be repeated. But it is temporary, because when the pain goes the vairagya also goes.
Patanjali Yoga Sutras: 1-15
दृष्टानुश्रविकविषयवितृष्णस्य वशीकारसंज्णा वैराग्यम् ॥१५॥
dṛṣṭa-anuśravika-viṣaya-vitṛṣṇasya vaśīkāra-saṁjṇā vairāgyam ||15||
dṛṣṭa=seen; visible; ānuśravika=heard of from others
viṣaya = entity; object; thing; tṛṣṇa = desire; thirst
vitṛṣna = adipsy (lack of thirst) ; vitṛṣṇasya = he who lacks thirst
vaśikāra = balance; the same; saṁjñā = consciously
vairāgyam = imperturbability; indifference; non-attachment
Dispassion is a state of mind when one does not hanker after objects seen or heard." (Patanjali's Yoga-Sutras: 1-15)
Dispassion has been regarded as an indispensable prerequisite of yoga.
Abhyasa - repetition and vairagya are often compared to the wings of a bird, and every yoga practice must include equal measures of these two elements to keep it aloft.
The root for the word Vairagya is raga, which means both coloring and passion. Vairagya means growing pale. Our view of the world is colored by our likes and dislikes which are born out of sobhanadhyasa. Through vairagya, we bleach our vision of the colorings of superimposed values of security and support.
We do not have to abandon our possessions, friends, or beliefs; we just have to recognize their transitory nature and be ready to surrender them at the appropriate time.
